


Lit By Sparks

by miss_whimsy



Series: Best Friend Thursday [2]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Best Friends, Family, Gen, M/M, Texting, Tinder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-26 00:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10775502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_whimsy/pseuds/miss_whimsy
Summary: Bernice just wants to find the love of her life. It can't be that hard, can it? Robert's done it, after all.





	Lit By Sparks

Bernice had once told Robert that a text message wasn't good enough and that he should ring her with important news.

Now she wished she'd kept her mouth shut. 

 

It was a Thursday which meant she was due at The Mill at 7 pm. At 5 she was washing Priya’s hair, so when her phone chimed with a text message she ignored it. 

Five minutes passed and she'd just picked up her scissors when the phone started to ring. 

“Do you mind if I get that?” she asked. “It might be Gabby.”

Priya waved her off and Bernice hurried over to answer the call. 

“Robert? What's wrong?”

“You didn't answer my text,” he said. 

“I’m with a customer,” she hissed at him. “I can’t answer texts when I’m cutting hair, can I?”

“Whatever,” he said. “Can you pick up some wine on the way over? We haven’t done our shop yet this week.”

“Why can’t you nip to David’s now?”

“You have to pass it to get here,” Robert argued. “Please, Bernice.”

“Fine,” she snapped. “Now leave me to do my job in peace.”

 

It didn’t stop at that. No, it kept on happening. Every time. If she didn’t answer a text within five minutes, Robert would call her.

 

“I said important things,” Bernice growled, barely stopping herself from throwing the phone across the bedroom. She looked at the screen again, squinting against the harsh light. “It’s half-past two, Robert. I was asleep. And I’m sorry but the fact that you love Aaron so much isn’t really that important at half-past two in the bloody morning. When I’m asleep.”

“It’s important to me,” Robert slurred. “I want people to know. You’re my best mate.”

“The text was fine. I’d have told you you’re adorable in the morning. Now I just want to castrate you.”

“You’re mean.”

“You’re drunk. Where is Aaron anyway?”

“He’s here,” Robert sighed and Bernice rolled her eyes because it was happy, dreamy sigh of someone disgustingly in love and not the sigh of someone who was going to let her go back to sleep anytime soon. “Aaron,” she heard Robert shout, “Aaron! Bernice wants to talk to you.”

“I absolutely don’t!” 

“Hiya,” Aaron said a second later, sounding far more sober than Robert. “Sorry, Bernice. I just left him for a second to get him some water. I didn’t know he’d ring you.”

“Yes, well,” Bernice said, “I don’t blame you, Aaron. Sounds like you’ve had a good night anyway.”

Aaron laughed a little and whispered “Stop. Rob. Come on.” It really was adorable. Bernice was going to kill the pair of them. “Yeah, sorry, it’s been a good night. I’ll let you go now.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, wait, Bernice, just one thing.”

“Yes?” Bernice said around a yawn.

“What did he ring you for?”

Bernice sighed. What should she really expect when Robert Sugden was her best friend? 

“He wanted to let me know that you’re the love of his life,” she told him. “Apparently it was very important I know that right this second.”

“Right,” Aaron said and she could hear him grinning. “Thanks, Bernice. I’ll make sure he makes it up to you tomorrow.”

The call ended and Bernice dropped the phone back onto the bedside table. She rolled onto her side, pulled the covers up around her shoulders and told herself that she wasn’t at all sad that she didn’t have what Robert had. 

 

It was nine o’clock on Thursday night and Bernice was mostly lying against Robert’s side, shoes off and feet tucked under her, phone in one hand, glass of wine in the other. Robert was watching Orphan Black and pretending he wasn’t terribly offended that Bernice wasn’t interested.

“That’s Alison,” he said, nudging her slightly. “Alison is the best.”

“She looks just like the other one,” Bernice said, sparing a glance at the screen as she took a sip of wine.

“That…” Robert took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “That’s the point.”

“I don’t understand,” she said and looked back down at her phone. “Robert?”

“Yeah?”

“You swing both ways.”

Robert fought back a smile. It wouldn’t do to encourage her. “I’m bisexual if that’s what you’re saying.”

“Right. Is he attractive?” She shoved the phone towards his face, making him flinch back.

“You what?”

“Do you think he’s good looking?” 

Robert frowned and took the phone from her. “Tinder? Really?”

“Well not all of us are lucky enough to have the love of our lives announce themselves to us by stealing our car, Robert,” Bernice said with a sniff. “Us mere mortals have to use whatever tools are at our disposal.”

Robert looked at the picture again, this time not attempting to hide his smile. “How am I supposed to know what you find attractive?”

“You’re not,” Bernice said, shrugging as she rested her chin on his shoulder. “But you have eyes and you like men and Aaron’s very nice looking if you like that sort of thing.”

“What, gorgeous people?” Robert said, offended on Aaron’s behalf. “Because Aaron’s the best looking bloke you’re ever likely to meet. You’d be lucky to find someone even half as…”

“Alright,” Bernice interrupted. “I wasn’t trying to disparage Aaron’s good looks. I’m just saying, he’s not really my type.”

“So what is your type?” Robert asked, frowning at the picture again. “Ashley? Carlos?” He made a gagging noise and Bernice slapped his stomach with the back of her hand, grabbing the phone back from him. 

“I was just asking!”

“No, he’s not attractive,” Robert said, wrapping his arm around her. “Go to the next one.”

Bernice swiped left and angled the phone towards him again. “Him?”

“No.”

She swiped left again. “Him?”

“No.”

“You’re just going to say no to all of them,” Bernice sighed, dropping the phone down onto the settee beside her. “Right then,” she said, snuggling back into his side and turning her attention back to the TV. “They’re all clones?”

 

Bernice left at ten and Robert used the time before Aaron came home to fill the dishwasher and clean the kitchen. There was half a glass of wine left in the bottle they’d shared, so Robert poured it out for himself and tossed the bottle in the recycling bin, before settling back down in the living room to wait. 

Something felt strange against his back and he felt behind him for the bundled up fabric, sighing when he pulled free Bernice’s purple scarf. He grabbed his phone and sent her a text.

_You left your scarf. I’ll bring it over on my way to work._

He picked up his wine glass and took a sip, wondering how long it would be before Aaron got home. He yawned and stretched. Hopefully, he’d be back soon.

Five minutes passed and Aaron wasn’t back. Bernice also hadn’t replied.

Grinning, Robert picked up his phone again and called her. 

The sofa started to vibrate.

“You have got to be kidding,” he muttered, digging down into the sofa cushions until he found Bernice’s phone. 

He placed it on top of the scarf and finished his wine. 

Aaron still wasn’t home. 

He was bored.

He should go to bed.

Bernice’s phone was right there.

Her passcode was her birthday. 

Robert stretched out on the settee to wait and opened Tinder again. He knew that left meant no and right meant yes. He started to flick through the photos. 

No, no, no, no, no, God no, no, no, no…

Alright, that guy was kind of fit.

Not _Aaron_ fit, but Bernice would probably go for him. 

He swiped right.

“What are you doing?”

Robert jumped, almost falling off the sofa in his haste to stand up. “Aaron!”

“That’s not your phone,” Aaron said quietly and Robert hated the flash of insecurity in his eyes. That tiny spark of distrust that might never die. “What are you doing, Robert?”

“It’s Bernice’s,” Robert said quickly, holding out the phone to him. “She left it. Look.”

Aaron took the phone, but he’d already relaxed, offering Robert an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

Robert shrugged slightly, but a second later Aaron’s arms were around him. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, then pressed his lips to Robert’s and smiled. “Did you have a good night?”

“It’s better now you’re here.”

They fell down onto the sofa, Aaron crawling into Robert’s lap to kiss him properly, taking his face between his hands, smiling against his lips when Robert’s arms came up around him to hold him close.

“So,” he murmured a good ten minutes later, rubbing his nose against Robert’s. “Why were you using Bernice’s Tinder account?”

Robert chuckled slightly and kissed him again. “She was trying to get me to pick blokes for her.”

“What, since she’s so bloody awful at it herself?” Aaron asked, grinning. 

“Can’t be any worse.”

“Give us a go then,” Aaron said, sliding off Robert’s knee and pointing at Bernice’s phone. 

“You want to?” 

“Of course,” Aaron said. “It’ll be fun. She hasn’t been out with anyone in ages either, so she must be doing it wrong.”

“Get a lot of matches yourself do you?” Robert asked, opening up the app.

“Hundreds.”

“I know you’re joking,” Robert said, squeezing Aaron’s waist. “But please stop.”

Aaron laughed, taking the phone from him. “You know I’ve never looked at another bloke since the first time you kissed me,” he said honestly. 

Robert didn’t know what to say to that, but as always, Aaron knew exactly what he was thinking and silenced his troubled mind with a kiss. 

“Bernice,” he prompted, nudging Robert’s knee. He waved the phone at him and started to move his thumb to the left across every picture. “Shout up if you think any of them are good enough for her.”

 

The next evening, phone safely restored to her, Bernice opened Tinder to a whole new set of Matches with men she didn’t remember liking. 

_Did you do this?_ she texted Robert.

 _You’re welcome_ he replied. 

_Robert!_

_You asked for my help!_ the next message said. _And you have to admit, me and Aaron have way better taste in men than you._

Bernice didn’t reply, but re-opened Tinder and started to look through her Matches. None of them seemed like the kind of person she’d usually go for.

Five minutes passed, but instead of the usual phone call, there was a beep as another text message arrived.

This one wasn’t from Robert, however. It was from Aaron.

_Just give them a chance, Bernice. You never know how lucky you’re going to be until you try._

And maybe that was the point, Bernice thought, moving back to the app. Maybe it was time to give someone different a chance. She clicked on the first name on her list of Matches and sent a quick hello.

Maybe the love of her life was never going to steal her car and sweep her off her feet, but there was always a chance that someone was waiting for you where you’d least expect them.

And Robert and Aaron were definitely experts in that.

**Author's Note:**

> So, the deleted Robert and Bernice scene from the wedding, coupled with Bernice looking through Tinder while in the hospital has resulted in this. I don't know a lot about Tinder, so I don't know whether it's very likely to result in you meeting the love of your life. But this is Emmerdale we're talking about so there's as much chance of Bernice finding them that way as any other.


End file.
